California Democratic Rep. Josh Harder made a startling admission about his party this week: Democrats may not be able to govern effectively if they retake control of the House during the midterm elections.
Harder, a results-oriented Democrat who wants to tighten rules to build more housing and energy projects, has expressed concerns about his party's ability to make progress on key issues if Democrats take back the House in 2026. Harder said this is of paramount importance to Abundance Pill Democrats must make breakthroughs on their policy priorities in the current GOP-controlled Congress because these problems could become more difficult to resolve under Democratic leadership. (RELATED: Democrat Matt Bennett warns his party is 'in terrible shape' and won't recover for years)
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“We have to do something now, even as part of the Republican trifecta,” Harder said during a speech at the New Liberal Action summit on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, there are so many parts of the Democratic Party that are still strongly opposed to this agenda that if we flip the House, some of these issues will be harder to solve, which is a little frustrating for the person who wants to do this.”
Although a growing number of Democrats have joined the center-left movement of abundance after a number of high-profile control failures In blue states and cities, Harder expressed frustration that many Democrats remain opposed to cutting red tape and making it easier to build housing and infrastructure projects.
Democrats are in turmoil!
Sounds like @RepJoshHarder argues that Democrats will not be able to effectively govern the country if voters decide to give them a majority in the House of Representatives in 2026.
Take note, America!
Clip and @DailyCaller story below: https://t.co/D3R4r24Wvl pic.twitter.com/BeCI3a8zzq
— America Rising War Room (@AR_WarRoom) October 24, 2025
He singled out members of the party leadership who submit to government regulation at the expense of results.
“We have to win hearts and minds,” Harder said, referring to members of his party. “We need to push for a Democratic Party that stands for economic growth and believes that life can get better in the future.”
Harder cited former Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 campaign proposal to build three million new housing units over four years as a laudable goal that would be impossible to achieve if Democrats opposed removing regulatory hurdles.
“What was deeply disheartening about this was that the policy underlying it was not going to even come close to that real policy goal,” Harder said. “And so we have a very clear problem: we need to define the essence of what this agenda actually looks like on the ground.”
A representative for Harder did not respond to DCNF's request for comment.
Harder's admission came in the same vein as some Democratic Party strategists. irritated Democrats have largely focused their messaging on fighting President Donald Trump about ten months into his second term.
House Democrats have largely avoided putting forward specific policy proposals for how they will govern the majority since the new Congress began in January.
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